Ceanothus impressus impressus

Identification

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Description

Ceanothus impressus impressus is an evergreen, six to ten foot shrub with very small 1/4"-1/2" leaves and curled margins. Santa Barbara Mountain Lilac has aromatic foliage and very showy, deep blue, sometimes lavender, flowers. It has good garden tolerance near the coast but will tolerate interior heat if given 1/week regular water (at the drip line). No frost damage at 15 degrees F. This Ceanothus froze to the ground at 0 degrees F., but recovered. For you folks in the northwest it seems to be 5 degrees hardier than Madrone (Arbutus menziesii). Common associated plants in the wild are Arctostaphylos purissima, Arctostaphylos rudis, Diplacus lompocensis (Mimulus aurantiacus), Artemisia californica, Quercus agrifolia, Quercus parvula, and Pinus muricata. This Ceanothus grows on sand with a hard pan layer commonly at 1'-3' on the central coast. It grows in sun or full shade under the dwarfed coast live oaks, usually reaching no taller than 4' there. This form was grown for a site-specific mitigation. This is probably one of the parents of the Ceanothus hybrids C. 'Julia Phelps', C. 'Celestial Blue' and C. Dark Star'(Death Star') Click here for more about Mountain Lilacs.